April 1736 (2)
= Le Mercure Gallant - April 1736 = Weather this month *Monsoon rains in India. *Storms in the North Atlantic and East Europe. *Typhoons in the Pacific. Events Of Importte Pertaining To Recent Matters Strassburg *The Duke of Baden’s garrison within fortified Strassburg was not entirely surprised to see a Prussian field army, the Zentral Army led by Prince Leopold von Anhalt-Dessau, arrive from the east, although the Prussians are still east of the Rhine. The gates were closed with alacrity and the walls manned while green-coated officers used their eyeglasses to observe the Prussian army, noting that it numbers 52 battalions of foot, 19 squadrons of horse and six batteries of artillery, along with a sizeable baggage trayne. Munster *Another Imperial Prussian army, in this case the Nord Armee under Generalleutnant York has arrived before the gates of Munster. General von Brumm, commanding the forces of Munster within the walls, received a request from York to allow his army to enter in the name of the Kaiser and the Empire. Brumm soberly refused, replying that a Prussian invasion had been expected, and now has come to pass. His fears were confirmed when York ordered preparations to be made to besiege Munster. Brumm can see that York has under arms 20 infantry battalions, 19 cavalry squadrons, and seven artillery batteries. Berlin *The Russian diplomat Prince Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov has asked Leonhard Euler, the chairman of the Society of Science of Berlin, whether he would be willing to work in Russia? Herr Euler didn’t seem terribly enamoured with the idea, so Prince Nikolai dropped the idea without pressing the gentleman too hard. *Before heading off for war, Kaiser Frederick attending the Christening of his new son who has been named Frederick Karl. Those named godfathers were Prinz Heinrich (who is already godfather to Wilhelm Augustus Georg) and Graf von Liebnitz, President of the Berlin Royal Scientific Academy. Amsterdam *Stadtholder Henri der Bergkamp has expressed his concern about the prospect of war across the Dutch frontier in Liege-Cologne. He stated that as a precautionary measure a strong Dutch force had been despatched to Guelderland. *Moghul diplomat Art Malik was escorted by Dutch soldiers to a waiting merchant trader, which in due course took the man to London and so to freedom. As he embarked, he was told that in return for being given his freedom his own government must negotiate with the United Provinces. Puzzled, he replied that he could not promise that, but despite this negative response he was sent on his way and is now lounging about in London to tell others of his recent adventures! Paris *France’s National Estates have been recalled to the West Palace so that their monarch can have their opinions on sundry matters of import. The deputies were asked about having a standard military weight and measurement system across France to permit the standardisation of weapon sizes. This would not prevent local weights and measures being used, but would provide a standard for the military. The deputies all seemed to think this to be a sensible idea and were pleased to voice their support for the proposal. They were then consulted about the three-tier system of administrative justice as proposed by the Judicial Consultation Panel. The highest level would be limited to nobles only, the middle ranks to anyone suitably qualified with the lowest level being composed of commoners local to a parish. This was a little more controversial. The nobles and clergy were concerned that local courts would by this means end up in the hands of the lower orders, and this they argue could cause rivalries between neighbours to be played out involving the law, and thus encourage spurious cases and appeals, thereby clogging up the legal system with petty examples of revenge and bickering so common amongst these lower orders. Those deputies from the commons objected, saying there is more of a risk of the noble families lording it over the humble and honest peasant if this reform does not go through! They are wholeheartedly in favour. From the clergy came a proposition that priests should be used for the lower courts in order to ensure fairness? This idea silenced the critics, although perhaps not everyone was comfortable enough to voice their dissent against men of the cloth? London *The Admiralty has made a statement regarding the safety of British merchant shipping in the Far East and Indian waters. Lord Sinclair delivered it: “We have no official word from the Dutch Government, but reports have indicated that no further action has been taken against British merchant vessels. However, the East Indies Fleet under Vice-Admiral Nelson is still making its move to the region and will call the area home for some time.” What is clear from Whitehall is this… British shipping will not be harassed without a price being paid by those who do the harassing. London is certainly pleased that this possible issue seems to have resolved itself in a favourable fashion. Cologne *General von Ziethen sent an officer to Cologne giving the defenders twenty-four hours to agree to the unconditional surrender of the city. Liege-Cologne was also required under the surrender terms offered to fully comply with the Kaiser’s request to merge economically, politically and militarily with the Imperial demesnes (meaning that the armed forces would come under the Kaiser’s direct control, as would the Treasury). While the request was being made Ziethen made preparations to prosecute a siege. It came as no surprise to anyone when Major Baron Horst von Blauenkreit, responding on behalf of Prince Frederick von Schedel, Archbishop of Cologne, Bishop of Liege, Cardinal of the Teutons, rejected the call to surrender out of hand. Three battalions of the Jager Brigade went out to surround Cologne on all sides in skirmish order, and set about sniping against defenders on the curtain wall and covered way. They were well matched by Austrian riflemen of the Liegois Army who deployed to the covered way and shot back to good effect. Eschewing the usual pattern of a siege, General der Artillerie Horst von Mela then brought forward a massed battery of 19 siege batteries across the open ground to unlimber before the north side of the city. These were given a severe drumming at the hands (or should I say, cannon balls) of the fortress artillery, and were forced to retire before they could engage properly. Mela, suitably chastened, decided that to send forward mortars close enough to hammer the defenders was not practical under these conditions, and he couldn’t risk pushing up howitzers either since it appeared this would just lead to more loss for no gain. General von Ziethen, while keen to follow his orders, is also keen to avoid defeat and so accepted Mela’s protests that to proceed in this manner would be to invite high losses and defeat. Instead, again not prosecuting a formal siege as yet, he gave orders for engineers attached to the Guards set about tunnelling. However this got nowhere, waters from the Rhine flooded into parts of the tunnels dug and the moist ground slid and buried many an engineer before the work was abandoned. The bulk of the army remains to the north of Cologne, although the Jagers are still involved in taking pot shots at the defenders, and vice-versa. People being Much Admired by the Best in Société *Russia *France *Moghul India *Prussia *Hungary *Kwantung China *Blackbeard *Ottoman Rumelia *England *Spain *United Provinces *Sweden Shipping Lists: Being a Reporte on Knowne Shipping Movements *While Russian Navy vessels have been occupied offloading crates in the city of Venice, Prussia's Nordflotte of 27 ship of the line, 23 cruisers and 25 auxiliaries has sailed into the city waters with the aid of camel buoyancy chambers (these days Venice is owned by Russia). *An English convoy of 35 large merchantmen escorted by ten cruisers has set sail from Ostend. *Grand Admiral Talaat Pasha has brought an Ottoman fleet into Alexandria, where he and his command have been made welcome by his erstwhile enemy Governor Gohra Malik. *The Ottoman fleet has under sail 32 lineships, six cruisers, and 28 auxiliaries. Lloyds Lists: Being a Reporte on Knowne Shipping Losses from Causes Unknowne or Knowne *None. Ambassadorial Appointments *None. Trade Missions Opened *By England in Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, and Vienna. Automatically parsed by LGDRParser v1.0 Category:Game 2